Managing synchronized movement of a set of vehicles

ABSTRACT

Method and system for managing synchronized movement of a set of vehicles. Based on a set of parameters and goals for a vehicle having an agent component, negotiating with one or more other vehicles to form a coalition of vehicles with a set of common parameter values and common goals. The method may: synchronize with the other vehicles in the coalition to result in a positioning of the vehicle in relation to the other vehicles and to synchronize time; combine the agent component of the vehicle with one or more agent components of the other vehicles in the coalition to form a distributed agent system; control the coalition of vehicles with common commands from the distributed agent system in response to feedback from sensors in each of the vehicles; and enable an override of the coalition by the vehicle agent component in response to a breach of safety parameters.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to managing synchronized movement of a setof vehicles.

Traffic congestion is becoming more of an issue day after day as thenumber of vehicles on the road is increasing.

The situation is often made much worse due to the delay between when avehicle can start moving or modifying its speed, and when it actuallystarts moving or modifying its speed. This delay propagates vehicle byvehicle all the way down to the end of a queue creating a ripple effect.The vehicle at the very end of the queue starts moving much later thanit potentially could if all the vehicles started moving at exactly thesame time. Removing this ripple effect may improve the fluency oftraffic and reduce the impact of traffic congestion, resulting insmarter transport.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure there is provideda computer-implemented method for managing synchronized movement of aset of vehicles wherein the method is carried out at a vehicle having anagent component. The method may include, based on a set of parametersand goals for the vehicle, negotiating with one or more other vehiclesto form a coalition of vehicles with a set of common parameter valuesand common goals, wherein a coalition aims to achieve the common goalswhilst respecting the common parameters. The method may also includesynchronizing with the other vehicles in the coalition to result in apositioning of the vehicle in relation to the other vehicles in thecoalition and to synchronize time. The method may also include combiningthe agent component of the vehicle with one or more agent components ofthe other vehicles in the coalition to form a distributed agent system.The method may also include controlling the coalition of vehicles withcommon commands from the distributed agent system in response tofeedback from sensors in each of the vehicles. The method may furtherinclude and enabling an override of the coalition by the vehicle agentcomponent in response to a breach of safety parameters.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure there is provideda system for managing synchronized movement of a set of vehicles,wherein a vehicle has an agent component including a processor and amemory configured to provide computer program instructions to theprocessor to execute the function of the agent component. The agentcomponent may include a negotiating component for, based on a set ofparameters and goals for the vehicle, negotiating with one or more othervehicles to form a coalition of vehicles with a set of common parametervalues and common goals, wherein a coalition aims to achieve the commongoals whilst respecting the common parameters. The agent component mayalso include a synchronizing component for synchronizing with the othervehicles in the coalition to result in a positioning of the vehicle inrelation to the other vehicles in the coalition and to synchronize time.The agent component may also include a combining component for combiningthe agent component of the vehicle with one or more agent components ofthe other vehicles in the coalition to form a distributed agent systemand for controlling the coalition of vehicles with common commands fromthe distributed agent system in response to feedback from sensors ineach of the vehicles. The agent component may also include a safety unitinstructing component for enabling an override of the coalition by thevehicle agent component in response to a breach of safety parameters.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure there is provideda computer program product for managing synchronized movement of a setof vehicles, the computer program product includes a computer readablestorage medium having program instructions embodied therewith. Theprogram instructions are executable by a processor to cause theprocessor to perform operations including, based on a set of parametersand goals for the vehicle, negotiating with one or more other vehiclesto form a coalition of vehicles with a set of common parameter valuesand common goals, wherein a coalition aims to achieve the common goalswhilst respecting the common parameters. Instructions may be includedfor synchronizing with the other vehicles in the coalition to result ina positioning of the vehicle in relation to the other vehicles in thecoalition and to synchronize time. Instructions may also be included forcombining the agent component of the vehicle with one or more agentcomponents of the other vehicles in the coalition to form a distributedagent system; controlling the coalition of vehicles with common commandsfrom the distributed agent system in response to feedback from sensorsin each of the vehicles. Instructions may further be included forenabling an override of the coalition by the vehicle agent component inresponse to a breach of safety parameters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a set of vehicles inaccordance with the present disclosure, in an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an example embodiment of an aspect of amethod in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example of a further aspect of a methodin accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an aspect of the presentdisclosure with the set of vehicles of FIG. 1, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an aspect of the presentdisclosure with the set of vehicles of FIG. 1, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an aspect of the presentdisclosure with the set of vehicles of FIG. 1, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a vehicle with components for use whenindependent and when in a coalition in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a coalition of vehicles in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing dependencies of roles of vehiclesin accordance with an aspect of an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing communication between vehicles inaccordance with an aspect of an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 is block diagram of an example embodiment of a system inaccordance with the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a computer systemin which the present disclosure may be implemented.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale.For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements for clarity. Further, where consideredappropriate, reference numbers may be repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present disclosure, a set of vehicles may use a negotiationmechanism to form a coalition that acts as a single entity to perform acommon goal. The movement of the coalition may be computed in adistributed way and, after a consensus is made, the decision may beenforced across all members, so that all vehicles forming the coalitionmove together as one. By moving as one, this may reduce the time that ittakes vehicles to move in slow stop/start traffic.

Often there may be a delay between a vehicle moving and the vehiclebehind reacting to this and moving themselves. This may be true whetherthe vehicle is controlled by a person or an automated system. Automatedsystems may remove the human response time; however, they may not removethe detection time of detecting movement of a vehicle in front.

The described technology may be capable of allowing in all vehicles inthe coalition moving together, at a defined time. There may not be adelay between the first and last vehicle moving. This may reduce thetime it takes for vehicles to move in traffic.

Referring to FIG. 1, a set of multiple vehicles 110 is illustrated byfour vehicles A 111, B 112, C 113 and D 114. The set of vehicles 110 mayuse a negotiation mechanism to form a coalition 120 that may result inthe vehicles being synchronized and acting as a single entity to performa common goal. The movement of the coalition 120 may be computed in adistributed way by the resources of the vehicles 111-114 and, after aconsensus is made, the decision may be enforced across all the vehicles111-114, so that they move together as one.

Each vehicle 111-114 may include sensors located in it to detectmovement, distance and objects and a control unit for controlling thevehicle 111-114. The combined sensors and control units of the vehicles111-114 may decide how far the coalition 120 can move, and whenobstacles are detected in the coalition's path as will be described infurther detail below. The vehicles 111-114 may be autonomous entitiescapable of communicating and negotiating with others, as defined instandard multi-agent systems literature.

Referring to FIG. 2, a flow diagram 200 shows an example embodiment ofan aspect of the described method of forming a stable coalition ofvehicles and negotiating its goals and parameters from the perspectiveof an individual vehicle.

A vehicle may be 201 an autonomous entity with its own parameters andgoals. Parameters may include, for example, breaking distance, minimumsafety distance, the time needed to accelerate, etc. Goals may include,for example, to move with as little braking as possible, to start movingonly when the gap in front is at least, for example, 20 meters, adirection of travel and/or destination to reach, and similar goals.

Based on the set of parameters and goals for the vehicle, a vehicle maynegotiate 202 with the other vehicles to form a coalition of vehicleswith a set of common parameter values and goals.

In a defined stationary traffic jam, all vehicles may enter intonegotiation about forming a coalition with a common goal to moveforward. Whether, how large, and how many coalitions may be formed maydepend on individual vehicles and their goals and parameters.

Each vehicle may have as own benefit function that tells the vehicle howbeneficial or advantageous it is to form a coalition. In someimplementations, a vehicle may join a coalition only when there is noother coalition that is more beneficial to the vehicle. However, otherconditions may also be considered. As the vehicle can also form acoalition with itself (or in other words not to form a coalition atall), it implies that it may be more beneficial for each vehicle to bein a coalition, than to be on its own. If there is no other coalitionthat the vehicle could join which would be more beneficial to thevehicle, it may not have an incentive to leave the coalition. Acoalition where none of the vehicles has incentive to leave may beconsidered stable. Therefore, all formed coalitions may be stable, Aspart of forming a coalition, goals and parameters of the coalition maybe negotiated 202. Each vehicle may or may not consider these parameterswhen deciding whether to join the coalition.

Vehicles may be candidates to join a coalition if they are within apredetermined range of other candidate vehicles. Constraints on acoalition such as a maximum number of vehicles in a coalition, adistance between vehicles, etc. may be configured and included in thenegotiations.

A stable coalition 203 may have a set of common goals and parameters.This coalition of vehicles may be an autonomous entity of its own,capable of achieving its goals. The coalition may act in order toachieve its goals while respecting its parameters.

The vehicle may be synchronized 204 in formation and in time with othervehicles in the coalition.

For the duration of the coalition, all of its members may lose theirautonomy and use the resources of the combined vehicles to provide 205 adistributed control and sensor system. However, individual vehiclesmaintain 206 their safety protocols and an individual vehicle may leavethe coalition at any time it considers convenient or necessary.

The vehicles in the coalition may provide resources that the coalitionuses to achieve its goals. The coalition makes use of all its resourcesto reach decisions by using the sensors of all vehicles, and theircomputational power together with the agreed set of goals andparameters. Internally, the coalition may be seen as a distributedsystem.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram 300 shows an example embodiment ofan aspect of the described method of controlling the vehicles in theformed coalition as one autonomous virtual vehicle. The method may becarried out by the coalition by using resources of the individualvehicles as a distributed sensor and control system. This is referred toas the coalition system.

The vehicles in a coalition may be synchronized 301 in formation andtime. The vehicles synchronize their time, which may later be used bythe coalition to ensure all vehicles move at exactly the same time. Thevehicles in a coalition may move into a formation. This may have beenagreed during the coalition negotiation and may generally involve atleast adjusting the empty space between the individual vehicles to anagreed distance to allow smooth movement. This agreed distance is notnecessarily the same for all the individual vehicles and it may be aglobal one for the whole coalition (subject to parameters andnegotiations), which must be at least the largest minimum safetydistance of all vehicles plus some extra space for movement. Allowingextra space may be important in preventing the safety protocols ofindividual vehicles, taking control during normal operations of thecoalition. For example, this may happen when braking takes longer thanexpected or a vehicle has a delay at starting.

The coalition system may then evaluate 302 surrounding conditions todetect whether it is possible to move. When it detects using the sensorsof individual vehicles that the gap in front is at least the agreeddistance, the coalition system may start a preparation procedure for thesynchronized movement.

The coalition system may determine 303 using all the sensors that it issafe to move and there are no obstacles or dangers that would preventthe coalition from moving. This may not only include any obstacles anddangers at the front, but also by the side, or inside the coalition. Ifany obstacle or danger is detected, the preparation procedure may beterminated and the method may loop to evaluate the surroundingconditions 302.

The coalition system may check 304 that all vehicles are ready to move.If, for example, it detects that one vehicle has a malfunction, thepreparation procedure may be terminated and the method loops to evaluatewhen all the vehicles are ready to move.

The coalition system may inform 305 all vehicles the time T1=T+α, whenthe coalition will move forwards, where ‘T’ is the current time, and ‘α’is the agreed delay. The delay may ensure that all vehicles have enoughtime to prepare for movement (e.g. vehicles with start-stop systems mayneed longer time to prepare for the movement), and it may solve theproblem of a communication lag that would cause each vehicle to move ata slightly different time. Since the time of all vehicles may besynchronized and they all have information about when to movebeforehand, they can move at exactly the same time. This may put severalrestrictions on the delay, as it has to be larger than the communicationlag together with the maximum time needed to prepare for movement.

Together with the time T1, other details about the movement such asacceleration speed, the desired movement speed, and similar are passedto all the vehicles. Optionally, if known, the movement distance isdisclosed as well. All of the parameters are calculated based on theagreed goals and parameters in combination with the currentcircumstances.

At exactly time T1, the coalition (i.e. all vehicles in the coalition)start moving 306 forward. This is illustrated in FIG. 4, which shows thecoalition 120 of FIG. 1 of four vehicles 111-114 moving at time T1.

The coalition may then evaluate 307 ongoing conditions and surroundingsand decide whether any changes are necessary. These are, as examples butnot limited to, the changes of the movement speed (including stopping),changes of a direction, or invalidating the movement distance that wasdecided before the movement began. If a change is necessary, thecoalition may start the preparation procedure for coordinating 309 thechange.

The changing movement parameters may be as follows. The coalitioninforms all vehicles about the time T2=T+α, when the change will takeeffect, where ‘T’ is the current time, and ‘α’ is the agreed delay.Together with the time T2, details about the changes to the movement maybe passed to all vehicles.

At exactly time T2, the coalition (i.e. all vehicles in the coalition)may exercise the changes to the movement. If the movement distance wasspecified, and it was not invalidated, the coalition may stop aftermoving the agreed distance. Note that it may not be possible to change(or specify) the movement distance once the movement has started asthere may be no clear reference point that may be used due to thecommunication lag and the vehicles being on the move. Instead, if thecoalition wishes to move further, it may invalidate the distance, andthen change the movement speed to zero when desired, If the coalitionwishes to stop earlier, it is not necessary to invalidate the movementdistance first. Any change to the speed is not immediate, but similarlyas when the movement begins, it includes information aboutacceleration/deceleration that are calculated based on the agreed goalsand parameters together with the current circumstances.

As mentioned earlier, any vehicles may choose to leave the coalition atany time following the correct procedure.

The vehicle wishing to leave the coalition may inform all other vehiclesof the time T3=T α, when the change will take effect, where is thecurrent time, and ‘α’ is the agreed delay.

At exactly time T3, the coalition may cease to exist, and all vehiclesmay regain their autonomy. Following the breaking of the coalition, eachvehicle may choose to continue on its own, or join another coalition. Avehicle may choose to leave the coalition for any reason. Examplereasons include, but are not limited to: it is no longer beneficial tobe part of the coalition, the destination of the vehicle changes and itneeds to take a different road, or the vehicle is signaled by a policepatrol to pull over.

Scenarios where something goes wrong are now considered. There may betwo general different types of problems: non-critical problems to thefunctionality of the coalition, and critical problems.

Non-critical problems may be defined as situations where the coalitioncan resolve the problem through normal operations. On the other hand,critical problems may be defined as situations where the coalitioncannot function any more and results in the coalition breaking up.

An example of a non-critical problem includes an obstacle becoming knownto the coalition. Another example would be an entity having a mechanicalfailure. The resolution to these problems may be dealt with throughdesigned functionality.

Referring to FIG. 5 an example of a non-critical problem scenario isillustrated in which a coalition is moving 140 when an obstacle 130 issensed, such as a pedestrian trying to walk between the vehicles in thecoalition 120. The coalition 120 evaluates the situation and anappropriate action is chosen based on the agreed goals and parameters.This action may be, but is not limited to, one of the following:

1. The coalition decides to stop 150.

2. The coalition decides to break 160, leaving the individual vehicles111-114 to handle the situation on their own.

Each of these actions may be applied in a similar manner to whenchanging the movement parameters. in some embodiments the action ischosen solely based on the goals and parameters of the coalition thatwere agreed when forming the coalition. Regardless of the chosen action,each vehicle may choose to leave the coalition if it deems itappropriate or necessary (e.g. the coalition decides to stop, but avehicle that can move prefers to do so).

A special case of the above-described functionality to deal withnon-critical problems may occur when a coalition decides to split intotwo sub-coalitions with the set of goals and parameters inherited fromthe original coalition. This is a valid action to take as each vehiclecan then immediately choose to leave the newly created coalition if itdesires. Splitting into two sub-coalitions may be the equivalent tobreaking up and then, based on negotiations, forming two new coalitions.The advantage of the former approach may include reduced communicationoverhead that allows two new coalitions to start functioning immediatelyrather than going through the whole process of forming a coalitionagain. A situation when this might be a preferred solution is, forexample, when the coalition is passing through traffic lights and thesignals change to red half way through. in that case, the coalition canonly break, and the individual vehicles would most likely immediatelyform two new coalitions anyway. Whether the coalition should break, orjust split into two or more sub-coalitions, in these types of situationsmay be negotiated when forming the coalition.

Examples of critical problems may include, but are not limited to: whereone of the vehicles stops communicating, any protocol of the coalitionis broken, or the minimum safety distance is breached. In this instance,the coalition cannot continue to function and breaks. A detailed exampleis when one of the vehicles stops communicating and slows down and theminimum safety distance is then breached by the vehicle behind.

This differs from a non-critical problem, because the coalition can nolonger function. The vehicle that has stopped communicating cannot beinformed of any decision that has been made. At this point, thecoalition breaks. This is illustrated in FIG. 6 showing the coalition120 losing communication with vehicle A 111. The coalition breaks 170.

Referring to FIG. 7, a block diagram shows the components that may beprovided in a vehicle 111 and how these may provide differentfunctionality when the vehicle 111 joins a coalition 120.

Each vehicle may contain a control and sensor unit (CASU) 710. The CASU710 may be responsible for executing all low-level operations such assteering, accelerating, braking. It may also be responsible for readingthe data of various sensors 701-703 that the vehicle 111 is equippedwith and making them available for consumption. The CASU 710 may be avirtual equivalent of a steering wheel, pedals, speed meter, andsimilar. Similarly like its physical equivalents, the CASU 710 may notmake any decisions; it merely executes instructions it has been given.

Each vehicle 111 may also be equipped with a safety unit (SU) 720. TheSU's 720 responsibility is that the safety of the vehicle 111 is notcompromised. The vehicle safety can, for example, consist of a minimumsafety distance and the maximum speed while going through bends. Theexact definition of the vehicle safety may differ from vehicle tovehicle. The SU 720 may have a direct access to the CASU 710, and it mayconstantly monitor all inputs to detect a breach of the safetyprotocols. If it detects that the safety of the vehicle 111 has beencompromised, it may immediately instruct the CASU 710 to applycorrecting steps (e.g. reducing speed or braking if a safety distancehas been compromised); overriding any previous instructions the CASU 710might have received. In addition, the SU 720 may block all externalcommands to the CASU 710 (i.e. the ones that do not come from the SU 720itself) that will compromise the safety of the vehicle (e.g.accelerating while there is an obstacle ahead).

Finally, each vehicle may include an autonomous agent component 730that, given the goals and preferences entered by the user together withthe vehicle parameters, may control the vehicle by issuing commands tothe CASU 710 based on the sensors' inputs from the CASU 710. The agentcomponent 730 may be a virtual equivalent of a human driver. In orderfor the agent component 730 to control the vehicle, it needs to performvarious tasks such as to project the vehicle surrounding and detect ifthere is any obstacle, predict movement of surrounding vehicles, computethe vehicle trajectory, and/or compute the vehicle acceleration. Some ofthese tasks may be performed in parallel while others depend on eachother. In addition, each agent component 730 may be capable ofcommunicating and negotiating with other autonomous vehicles. Thefrequency in which the agent component 730 issues commands to the CASU710 depends on the complexity of the environment. This is no differentfrom a human driver. If the environment is complex and constantlychanging, then the driver needs to adjust the speed and trajectory moreoften to react to unforeseen circumstances.

Each vehicle 111 may also include a communication device 740 capable ofsending and receiving messages to other vehicles. Any appropriatevehicle-to-vehicle communication technology, network, protocols andsecurity may be used. Each vehicle 111 may have its own private key thatmay be used to sign its messages and corresponding public key to beprovided to other vehicles to ensure that the authenticity of messagescan be verified.

For each vehicle 111 in a coalition 120, the CASU 710 and the SU 720stay intact and unaffected by the fact that the vehicle 111 is now partof the coalition 120. The responsibilities of each agent component 730may reduce to only one—leaving the coalition if it deems desirable. Forthe duration of the coalition, the agent component 730 loses the controlof the vehicle 111 in favor of the coalition 120 that becomesresponsible for controlling the vehicle 111. To contrast the situationwith human-driven vehicles, the agent component 730 may now a virtualequivalent of a passenger in a taxi. Although the agent component 730 isnot in control of the vehicle anymore, the safety of the vehicle has notchanged as all safety protocols remain unaffected. Effectively, thedriver has changed which might result in a different driving strategy,but cannot change the characteristics of the vehicle.

The coalition 120 may be an autonomous agent on its own that controlsall constituting vehicles 111 as one. Internally, the coalition 120 maybe formed of multiple sub-agent components 731, one per vehicle 111 thatis part of the coalition 120, that work together on solving the commongoal of controlling the coalition 120. Each sub-agent component 731 maybe responsible for a subset of tasks that are required to control thecoalition 120. These tasks consist of the same tasks that are requiredto control a single vehicle (e.g. project surrounding of the coalitionand detect if there are any obstacles, predict the movement ofsurrounding vehicles, compute the coalition trajectory, or compute thecoalition acceleration) plus some additional ones in order to deal withthe distributive nature of the coalition 120 (e g making sensor inputsavailable to the coalition, translating coalition control commands intointernal vehicle control commands). To distinguish this from the singlevehicle case, the tasks performed by each sub-agent component 731 arereferred to as roles. Furthermore, for simplicity, in the followingdescription each sub-agent component 731 is referred to simply as avehicle. Following the new terminology, each vehicle (sub-agentcomponent 731) in the coalition 120 has an assigned set of roles.

Starting with the mandatory roles, each vehicle 111 may be able to sendits sensor 701-703 inputs to other vehicles 112-114 in the coalition120, and to execute commands issued by the coalition. In addition, eachvehicle 111-114 may be assigned some additional roles, depending on itsposition within the coalition 120, number of vehicles in the coalition,and similar. It is possible that some of the vehicles 111-114 may not beassigned any additional roles.

To demonstrate this with an example, reference is made to FIG. 8, whichshows a coalition 120 of four vehicles A 111, B 112, C 113, and D 114.The roles may be as follows and may be provided by componentfunctionality in the vehicle's sub-agent component 731.

Sensor Inputs component 811 (SI): Collecting sensor inputs for thecoalition.

Commands Execution component 812 (CE): Executing commands issued by thecoalition.

Surrounding component 813 (SR): Projecting the surrounding of thecoalition based on sensor inputs from all vehicles, and predictingmovement of surrounding vehicles.

Trajectory component 814 (TR): Computing a trajectory for the coalitionas a whole, and deriving trajectories of individual vehicles from that.

Acceleration component 815 (AC): Computing acceleration for thecoalition as a whole, and deriving acceleration of individual vehiclesfrom that.

Commands Generation component 816 (CG): Generating commands for eachvehicle containing their trajectory and acceleration.

The vehicles 111-114 in this example may be assigned the followingroles:

Vehicle A 111: SI 811A, CE 812A, SR 813.

Vehicle B 112: SI 811B, CE 812B, TR 814.

Vehicle C 113: SI 811C, CE 812C, AC 815.

Vehicle D 114: SI 811D, CE 812D: CG 816.

Similar to tasks, individual roles depend on each other. In the example,dependencies are as shown in FIG. 9:

SR 813 depends on SI 811A-811D from all vehicles 111-114.

TR 814 depends on SR 813 and AC 815.

AC 815 depends on SR 813 and TR 814.

CG 816 depends on TR 814 and AC 815.

It should be noted that there may be circular dependencies; for example,TR 814 depends on AC 815 and vice versa. This is no different from thesingle vehicle case, where the circular dependency exists as well. Thereare multiple options of how to resolve a circular dependency but, toname one, first a trajectory is computed based on the last known valuefor acceleration, and then the newly computed trajectory is used toupdate the acceleration.

The whole coalition 120 may then work as a pipeline shown in FIG. 10 inwhich each vehicle A 111, B 112, C 113, D 114 is shown.

All vehicles 111-114 send sensor inputs 821 to vehicle A's surroundcomponent 813 (SR).

Vehicle A's 111 surround component 813 (SR) computes the surrounding ofthe coalition, and sends the surrounding result 822 to vehicle B's 112trajectory component 814 (TR) and vehicle C's 113 acceleration component815 (AC).

Vehicle B's 112 trajectory component 814 (TR) uses the last knownacceleration to compute the trajectory of the coalition, and sends thetrajectory 823 to vehicle C's 113 acceleration component 815 (AC) andvehicle D's 114 commands generation component 816 (CG).

Vehicle C's 113 acceleration component 815 (AC) computes theacceleration of the coalition, and sends the acceleration 824 to vehicleB's 112 trajectory component 814 (TR) and vehicle D's 114 commandsgeneration component 816 (CG).

The commands generation component 816 (CG) of vehicle D 114 generatesand sends commands 825 to all vehicles 111-114.

The above described model works well if everything works as expected. Itis, however, when something goes wrong where fast reaction may benecessary, and going through the whole pipeline might be just too slow.For this reason, each vehicle may be capable of issuing emergencycommands in case some protocols are breached. These commands may havepriority over standard commands issued by commands component 816. Forexample, if surrounding component 813 detects there is an obstacleahead, it will send a command to all vehicles to stop immediatelyinstead of just forwarding the information. This ensures prompt responseto unforeseen circumstances.

Further details are provided of an example communication method forcommunication between vehicles when negotiating and when in a coalition.

Each vehicle may be equipped with a device capable of sending andreceiving messages to other vehicles. Each vehicle may have its ownprivate key that it can use to sign its messages, and correspondingpublic key.

When forming a coalition, all vehicles may exchange their public keys sothat authenticity of messages can be verified. Roles may be assigned toall vehicles; each vehicle builds a routing table. The retry interval,number of retries, and the maximum interval between updates may beagreed on.

During the existence of the coalition, each role may send updates toroles that depend on it. For the purposes of an example, it is assumedthat vehicle A is calculating a trajectory, and vehicle B is calculatingacceleration:

Senders Actions

Vehicle A calculates a trajectory.

Vehicle A finds out from its routing table that Vehicle B depends on it.

Vehicle A signs a message containing the calculated trajectory with itsprivate key.

Vehicle A sends the signed message to Vehicle B, and waits for aconfirmation from Vehicle B.

-   -   If it receives the confirmation, the protocol ends. A new        trajectory will be calculated sometime in the future, but no        later than the agreed maximum update interval.    -   If it does not receive the confirmation within the retry        interval, and the maximum number of retries has not been        exceeded, then it re-sends the message.

Receiver Actions

Vehicle B waits for a trajectory.

-   -   If it receives a message, it will:        -   Verify the message authenticity. If the message signature            does not match, then the situation is resolved as a critical            problem (the communication from the coalition cannot be            trusted anymore).        -   Determine the type of the message, and checks in its routing            table that the sender is authorized to send this type of            message (e.g. only vehicle A can send trajectory updates).            If not, then the situation is resolved as a critical problem            (the communication from the coalition cannot be trusted            anymore).        -   Confirms it received the message.    -   If it does not receive the message within the agreed maximum        update interval, then the situation is resolved as a critical        problem (vehicle A stopped communicating).

In summary, a coalition of vehicles may be thrilled, throughnegotiation, which then moves as a single entity, removing the rippleeffect seen in current traffic patterns. A robust mechanism resolves anyproblems that might occur during the duration of the coalition, Thefunctionality may be included in vehicle software.

The coalition may not use or rely on a lead vehicle. Existing solutionsuse a lead vehicle that controls a platoon of vehicles. In the describedmethod and system, vehicles may be equal and form one virtual vehicle(the coalition). The coalition may have a full control over the platoon,and it combines inputs and computational resources of all itsconstituting vehicles. This means that more complex and possibly moreefficient driving strategies can be explored.

A coalition may be treated as a vehicle with its own parameters and setof goals as opposed to existing solutions that may treat a linked groupof vehicles just as a group of individual vehicles. These parameters andgoals are agreed upon when the coalition is formed. A consequence ofthis approach is that the coalition may be part of another coalition.This allows use cases that otherwise would not be possible. A group ofvehicles that are travelling together from place A to place B may form acoalition, and then dynamically join as a single entity anothercoalition for part of their journey. Since they are joining as acoalition, they are seen by other members of the coalition as onevirtual vehicle, and cannot therefore be separated.

Referring to FIG. 11, an example embodiment of an agent component 730 ofa vehicle is shown with the functionality of a sub-agent component 731which may be used when a coalition is formed. The agent component 730may include at least one processor 1101, a hardware module, or a circuitfor executing the functions of the described components which may besoftware units executing on the at least one processor. Multipleprocessors running parallel processing threads may be provided enablingparallel processing of some or all of the functions of the components.Memory 1102 may be configured to provide computer instructions 1103 tothe at least one processor 1101 to carry out the functionality of thecomponents.

The agent component 730 may include a negotiating component 1111 for,based on a set of parameters and goals for the vehicle, negotiating withone or more other vehicles to form a coalition of vehicles with a set ofcommon parameter values and common goals. A coalition aims to achievethe common goals whilst respecting the common parameters;

The agent component 730 may include a synchronizing component 1112 forsynchronizing with the other vehicles in the coalition to result in apositioning of the vehicle in relation to the other vehicles in thecoalition and to synchronize time.

The agent component 730 may include a safety unit instructing component1114 for enabling an override of the coalition by the vehicle agentcomponent in response to a breach of safety parameters by communicationwith the safety unit 720.

The agent component 730 may include a combining component 1113 forcombining the agent component of the vehicle as a sub-agent component731 with the sub-agent components of the other vehicles in the coalitionto form a distributed agent system. The distributed agent systemcontrols the coalition of vehicles with common commands from thedistributed agent system in response to feedback from sensors in each ofthe vehicles.

The agent component 730 may include a role designation component 1115for receiving designation of one or more processing role of thedistributed agent system and communicating with the other vehiclesub-agent components regarding the role.

The sub-agent component 731 may include a sensor inputs component 811for sending sensor input from the vehicle agent component to all theother vehicles in the coalition and a commands execution component 812for executing commands received from the distributed agent system. Thecommands are generated at one of the vehicle's sub-agent components. Thecommands execution component 812 for executing commands received fromthe distributed agent system instructs a control unit for controllingthe vehicle's operation including steering, accelerating and braking.

The role designation component 1115 may designate the sub-agentcomponent to provide one or more of: a surrounding component 813 forprojecting a surrounding of the coalition of vehicles, a trajectorycomponent 814 for computing a trajectory for the coalition of vehiclesand individual vehicles, an acceleration component 815 for computingacceleration for the coalition of vehicles and individual vehicles, anda commands generation component 816 for generating commands for eachvehicle including their trajectory and acceleration.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a schematic of an example of a system 1200 inthe form of a vehicle computer system is shown in which the describedvehicle units and components may be implemented.

A vehicle computer system 1212 may be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations.

A vehicle computer system 1212 may be described in the general contextof computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules,being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules mayinclude routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures,and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. Vehicle computer systems 1212 may be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

In FIG. 12, a computer system 1212 is shown in the form of ageneral-purpose computing device. The components of the computer system1212 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing units 1216, a system memory 1228, and a bus 1218 that couplesvarious system components including system memory 1228 to processor1216.

Bus 1218 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system 1212 typically includes a variety of computer systemreadable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessibleby computer system/server 1212, and it includes both volatile andnon-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 1228 can include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 1230 and/orcache memory 1232. Computer system/server 1212 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 1234 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 1218 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 1228 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 1240, having a set (at least one) of program modules1242, may be stored in memory 1228 by way of example, and notlimitation, as well as an operating system, one or more applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operatingsystem, one or more application programs, other program modules, andprogram data or some combination thereof, may include an implementationof a networking environment. Program modules 1242 generally carry outthe functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention asdescribed herein.

Computer system 1212 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 1214 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 1224,etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computersystem 1212; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) thatenable computer system 1212 to communicate with one or more othercomputing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O)interfaces 1222. Still yet, computer system 1212 can communicate withone or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general widearea network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) vianetwork adapter 1220. As depicted, network adapter 1220 communicateswith the other components of computer system 1212 via bus 1218. Itshould be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/orsoftware components could be used in conjunction with computer system1212. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, devicedrivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAIDsystems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Improvements and modifications can be made to the foregoing withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: basedon a set of parameters and goals for a vehicle having an agentcomponent, negotiating with one or more other vehicles to form acoalition of vehicles with a set of common parameter values and commongoals, wherein the coalition aims to achieve the common goals whilstrespecting the common parameters; synchronizing with the other vehiclesin the coalition to result in a positioning of the vehicle in relationto the other vehicles in the coalition and to synchronize time;combining the agent component of the vehicle with agent components ofthe other vehicles in the coalition to form a distributed agent system;controlling the coalition of vehicles with common commands from thedistributed agent system in response to feedback from sensors in each ofthe vehicles; and enabling an override of the coalition by the vehicleagent component in response to a breach of safety parameters.
 2. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein controlling the coalition ofvehicles with common commands from the distributed agent system inresponse to feedback from sensors in each of the vehicles includes:sending sensor input from the vehicle agent component to all the othervehicles in the coalition; and executing commands received from thedistributed agent system, wherein the commands are generated at one ofthe agent components of one of the vehicles.
 3. The method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein combining the agent component of the vehicle with theagent components of the other vehicles in the coalition to form adistributed agent system includes: receiving designation of one or moreprocessing role of the distributed agent system and communicating withthe other vehicle agent components regarding the role.
 4. The method asclaimed in claim 3, wherein the role includes one or more of: projectinga surrounding of the coalition of vehicles, computing a trajectory forthe coalition of vehicles and individual vehicles, computingacceleration for the coalition of vehicles and individual vehicles,generating commands for each vehicle including their trajectory andacceleration.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein executingcommands received from the distributed agent system includes controllingthe vehicle's operation including steering, accelerating and braking. 6.The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein controlling the coalition ofvehicles with common commands from the distributed agent system inresponse to feedback from sensors in each of the vehicles includes:receiving a common command including a start time for an action whereinthe start time is the current time plus a delay.
 7. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein controlling the coalition of vehicles withcommon commands from the distributed agent system in response tofeedback from sensors in each of the vehicles includes: in response tofeedback of a non-critical problem, receiving a common command to takean action.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the commoncommand to take an action in response to the non-critical problemincludes one or more of: stopping, slowing down, changing a trajectory,breaking the coalition, dividing the coalition, and other avoidingactions.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein controlling thecoalition of vehicles with common commands from the distributed agentsystem in response to feedback from sensors in each of the vehiclesincludes: in response to feedback of a critical problem, receiving oneor more of a common command and an individual command to break thecoalition; and resuming control by the vehicle's agent component.